I didn’t finish this book.
I liked some of the concepts, but the author, Richard Dawkins, struck me as bitter and twisted throughout the first few chapters. And probably continued to complain throughout the rest of the book. Unfortunately, I also watched a documentary of his on TV, which kind of reinforced his belligerent intolerance to religion. That being said, he does have a few good points.
“There is no such thing as a Christian child, there is only a child of Christian parents.”
Insert whatever religion you like in that phrase.
Interesting point because can a child really ponder religion when their main source of “truth” (i.e. Their Parents) is telling them what to think, what to believe and how the world works? Is it Conditioning through reciting prayers and creeds? I guess it provides an easy answer to questions. Why is that mummy? “God works in mysterious ways”, or “God is teaching us a lesson”. It stops deeper questioning which doesn’t help understanding the world or situations. So his point, that children are conditioned by their parents to believe (kinda like santa claus, but with more serious restrictions on lifestyle).
It did make me reflect on my own religious upbringing. I can still recite various creeds and prayers, even though I have not attended church in 15 years. It took a while for me to throw off the concept of god. Or perhaps more accurately, recognise it only as a concept and not an actual “thing”. I am 30 now, but only in the last year or so come around to this “revelation” for want of a better word. I also wonder whether this has to do with physical proximity to my parents, as I moved interstate from them nearly 8 years ago.
So back to the book, here’s what Amazon has to say:
Discover magazine recently called Richard Dawkins “Darwin’s Rottweiler” for his fierce and effective defense of evolution. Prospect magazine voted him among the top three public intellectuals in the world (along with Umberto Eco and Noam Chomsky).
Now Dawkins turns his considerable intellect on religion, denouncing its faulty logic and the suffering it causes. He critiques God in all his forms, from the sex-obsessed tyrant of the Old Testament to the more benign (but still illogical) Celestial Watchmaker favored by some Enlightenment thinkers. He eviscerates the major arguments for religion and demonstrates the supreme improbability of a supreme being.
He shows how religion fuels war, foments bigotry, and abuses children, buttressing his points with historical and contemporary evidence. In so doing, he makes a compelling case that belief in God is not just irrational, but potentially deadly. Dawkins has fashioned an impassioned, rigorous rebuttal to religion, to be embraced by anyone who sputters at the inconsistencies and cruelties that riddle the Bible, bristles at the inanity of “intelligent design,” or agonizes over fundamentalism in the Middle Eastor Middle America.
Here’s a snippet from my childhood .. I am not sure why do small children in primary school (ages 6-12) need to sing songs with lyrics like:
“what did Judas do?,
he hung himself upon an alder”.
Why? I just think it’s weird, perhaps it a story with a righteous ending where the guilty or betrayer gets punished, so it’s all ok .. and there’s a happy ending.
So here’s an interesting concept (in my mind at least), just say we have all these religions who think they are correct. So we have:
- Religion J - We’re Right, the only god, every other is false
- Religion C - We’re Right, the only god, every other is false
- Religion I - We’re Right, the only god, every other is false
- Religion B - We’re Right, enlightenment is the way
- Religion H - We’re Right, the only gods, every other is false
If everyone thinks they’re right, someone must be wrong. In fact if there is only one religion is correct, then 80% of religions are wrong. So more than likely, they are all wrong. At least that’s my current over simplistic proof that they are all wrong.
So, is my rant above equal his? The irony is not lost on me.
It probably made me think about the issue quite seriously, I just didn’t like the messenger.
Rating: Unrated (Need to probably finish it .. maybe when the pile of other books diminishes).
